Relighting the Path
by Javanos
Summary: Ash is returning home from his adventures in Unova when he runs into Dawn, who seems to have changed too much for Ash to believe. Dawn recognizes Ash, but is it reality or a dream? Pearlshippy after first chapter.
1. Leaving

**A/N: Well looks like I decided to make another short story after all. ****Ash and Dawn are both 14 years old but ****sadly, Dawn isn't in this chapter. But she will be in the next *yey***

**Anything contained in [] has to do with scene placement or time frames, you'll figure it out (feel free to tell me if they are annoying or uneeded) Happy reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, though I wish I did so I didn't have to do this disclaimer.**

Chapter 1: Leaving

_It may have been a few years since I last saw her, but there is no way she changed **that** much. [fade to white]_

**[A few months before]**

Ash was returning home to Pallet Town after competing in the Unova League where, once again, he was runner-up. "Man, I was so close to winning this time!" Ash threw his fist on the table but more because he was getting impatient with waiting for Cilan to finish cooking lunch – Ash's last lunch – in Unova. Ash was leaving Unova to go back home and figure out what he would do next.

"Cilan! Is the food done yet?"

"Almost ready Ash, the sweet and fragrant berries which..." Ash groaned and laid his head on the table as the green haired connoisseur continued rambling on about the food he was preparing.

_I'm so hungry... It's not that I'm not thankful that Cilan is cooking extra since it is the last lunch I'll have in Unova. But if he was planning on making a five course meal, couldn't he have provided some bread sticks?_

"Quit whining about your stomach, geez, you're such a kid," Iris said, cutting into his thoughts after walking back from gathering fruit.

"How many times are you going to say that I'm a kid! I'm not a kid!" he yelled back.

"Well you sure act like one," Iris stated, taking a bite out of an apple she found.

"Axew," the little dragon type poked its head out of Iris' massive purple hair and nodded as if agreeing with its partner.

Ash was just about to get in Iris' face and stood up, putting his fists in front of him, he was in the middle of inhaling to retort when...

"IT'S LUNCH TIME!" Cilan cried out, putting the feast on the table with the help of Pansage.

"Thanks for the help Pansage," he thanked his partner as the two finished setting out all the food a few minutes later.

"-Sage," it nodded its head and started eating with the rest of the pokemon.

"FINALLY!" Ash cried, attacking the mountain of food, otherwise known as his plate, with tears streaming down his elated face.

Both Cilan and Iris sweat-dropped at Ash's poor table manners and the gusto he ate with.

"I think I see after images of his arms," Cilan muttered to Iris before he started eating,

"he is such a kid," Iris replied once again, but Ash was too busy eating to care or even hear Iris' usual remark.

_[later]_

"Ahhhh, that was really good, thanks for cooking Cilan," Ash said contentedly, laying down on the grassy hill, it was a perfect day. Bright, yellow sunlight covering everything, a light-blue sky with puffy, white clouds. He looked forward and slightly down as he spotted the destination,

the port city of Driftveil.

_[time skip]_

"Ash, come on, the ferry to Sinnoh is going to be leaving soon and, unless you plan on staying in Unova a few more months, you don't want to miss it," Cilan told Ash.

"Hmm what to get..." Ash was looking through the various gift shops, scratching his head while wondering what to get his mom. "Hmm, my mom likes cleaning, so a new duster? Or maybe she would like a lint roller..." he muttered to himself, absentmindedly wandering through the rows upon rows of t-shirts, not bothering to read any of the print since every single one had various puns on them. He came to the end of a row and read the shirt in front of him. "Unova have a bad time in Unova," he read aloud, groaning.

"Wow, even **I** think that is bad, and it barely works." Ash shook his head in disappointment as he began walking to the counter to buy a lint roller, that is when he saw it;

a red scarf in the display case.

In an instant, memories flashed through his head, like sepia photos, with a certain blue-haired girl standing out among all the faded memories.

Ash rushed to the shopkeeper asking, "How much does that scarf in the display case cost!" almost yelling at the surprised man.

The shopkeeper, still slightly confused said, "What scarf? Oh you must mean that scarf on display. Well my wife makes them, and I didn't think anyone would want to buy them, but how about $30?"

_I mean, it does look well made, and it looks really soft. But $30 is a lot to spend on a gift for mom... wait, mom doesn't even wear scarves... oh well looks like it is back to the lint roller. _Ash thought to himself.

"$30 is a bit much for one scarf, I guess I'll take a lint roller instead."

The shopkeeper looked upset for a little, then an idea sprung to his head.

"Since you seem like you really want it, I'll sell you two scarves for the price of one, how 'bout it?"

"Well..." Ash began but was interrupted by the storekeeper. "No, wait, three scarves! Any color you like! I'll even throw in a free lint roller! Please, my wife won't stop making them and I'm running out of inventory room!"

But Ash didn't hear the shopkeeper's explanation, the instant Ash heard "free lint roller," he grabbed the storekeeper's hand and said, "you have yourself a deal!"

"Ash! There you are, the ferry leaves in less than a minute!" both Cilan and Iris said, bursting into the shop to warn their friend.

"What! shoot, I lost track of time!" Ash said, panicking as he grabbed the bag out of the shopkeeper's extended hands.

"Bye, and thanks for the scarves and free lint roller!" Ash called out as he bolted out of the shop, almost loosing Pikachu and his hat from how quickly he moved.

"BYE ASH! CALL US FROM TIME TO TIME!" Cilan and Iris stood on the dock, waving goodbye to the black haired boy.

Ash had almost jumped in the water in an attempt to grab the ship's ramp after rushing out of the shop, luckily a crew member noticed him and set the ramp down.

"BYE CILAN, BYE IRIS! I'M SURE WE'LL MEET AGAIN!" Ash yelled back, leaning so far over the railing that when then the ship's horn startled him, he almost fell into the water.

"What a kid," Iris said.

"I HEARD THAT!" Ash yelled back, causing Cilan and Iris to laugh at their friend's departing words as they turned around and started walking to the pokecenter.

"Well Pikachu, we are finally on our way back home, back to Kanto." Ash said, scratching his long-time pal's ear, as he looked out in the far distance towards the flat horizon where the light blue sky met the dark blue ocean, excitement shone in his eyes.

"Yes, we are finally going home," Ash said repeating himself, this time with a smile on his face.

_[fade to white]_

**A/N: So for those who didn't get the pun it was [**you neva (never) have a bad time in Unova]****

**If you saw something you didn't like, tell me, so I can fix it. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, I just discovered a new game. Don't forget to review, I need the feedback.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**- Javanos**


	2. The Blue Haired Girl

**A/N: Hey! So this chapter is a little sad, it won't stay sad for too long.**

**Also thanks to my 3 reviews from last chapter from: Itssupereffective, Northern Ranger, and Farla**

**Happy reading! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, though I do wish I was a trainer frequently.**

Chapter 2: The Blue Haired Girl

_[white screen fade in]_

It was a gray kind of day. Clear blue skies and the bright happy Sun were hiding behind dark, gray clouds of blah. The slightly choppy ocean made boats in the harbor bob up and down as wingull would take off only to return to their perch a few seconds later. A girl about 14 years old, with dark blue hair that went 3/4ths of the way down her back, walked out of the pokecenter. Her hair was one of her most prized possessions, brushing it until it felt like a microfiber fleece and would shine like a polished sapphire in the Sun. She would spend nearly an hour every morning, making sure every hair would be in place for the day.

_Hm, the weatherman said today was supposed to be sunny_, the girl mused, _oh well, just as long as it isn't raining, I forgot to grab an umbrella when I left home._

The girl started walking to where a large ship was docked. She wore red sneakers with red laces and with white socks that went to her ankles, blue, medium fit jeans, a red, long sleeve shirt covered with a blue jacket with a sky blue silhouette of a piplup printed in the lower left corner of so it wrapped around to the back, and to complete the outfit she had her signature white beanie, with a pink poke ball design, perched on her head. A little blue penguin, matching the silhouette on her jacket, walked beside her.

"Hey Piplup, are you excited for our new adventure?" she asked her piplup.

"Pip-piplup!"Piplup chirped, making his trainer giggle a little.

"I'm so excited! I never knew Kanto had a contests, much less a Grand Festival! I wonder why Ash never mentioned it," she said, bringing a finger to her lips and she looked off in space, thinking about her question and making her way to the ferry.

_I wonder where Ash is now... Last time he contacted me, he said he was in Unova, wherever that is._

Unova was still a fairly unknown region to most of the regions, and the people who lived in them, because it was so far away.

_Hmm anyway, let me see, my cabin is 45, so it should be on the deck floor._

The ferry was almost as large as a cruise liner, but lacked many of the extra luxuries. Though it did have a pool, track, weight room, kitchen, dinning hall and a few event halls. The rest was for storage and passenger space.

On the door of cabin 45 was a note that read

"Welcome aboard Miss Dawn Berlitz, your mother sent us a few things and they are on your bed."

_Hmm, I wonder what my mom sent,_ Dawn thought as she opened the door, "YES! Thank you mom!" Dawn cheered as the first thing she saw on the bed was an umbrella. The rest of the stuff was some extra rations, clothes and medicine for her pokemon.

_Thank you mom, you always do know what I want_. She thought as Piplup jumped onto the bed and fell asleep,

"Hehe, I guess Piplup is still tired after walking all the way from Twinleaf Town to Canalave City yesterday," Dawn said to no one in particular.

_I think I'll go check out the deck._

Dawn walked out onto the brown, wooden plank deck, _well they keep it clean here at __least_, she thought as she looked at the polished planks and headed to the back of the ship where she saw Canalave City getting smaller and smaller, slowly disappearing into the gray fog that the Sun couldn't get rid of since all the clouds were stopping it.

_I don't like overcast days, they seem dreary. _Dawn reached the white painted railing and leaned on it, staring into the fog.

_It's been some time since Ash left for Unova, maybe he is back home!_ At this thought, Dawn cheered up from the thought of getting to see her friend again after so long.

_I wonder how he has changed, I bet he actually has some muscle instead of being a twig, or maybe his appetite got the better of him and he has put on a few inches around the belly._ Dawn laughed as she tried to imagine a buff Ash, then a pudgy Ash. Her mood further improved as she noticed the clouds had thinned and large patches of warm, bright sunlight broke through the gray barrier in the sky.

_Maybe today will turn out fine, I started the day thinking about Ash and how much I wish he was here still... But that isn't really any different than any other morning I guess._ Dawn's happy grin sobered slightly as she though how much she missed Ash.

_I've been making sure I win my contests in case Ash was somehow watching, well besides the obvious reason of wanting to win for my pokemon too._ She looked down at her clothes, _I guess I've been thinking about Ash more than I thought since I've been wearing mostly red ever since he left._

Little by little, Dawn was going back to the way she has been for the past few months. A few months ago after loosing a contest, Dawn was trying to keep herself in high spirits, she made the mistake of telling herself that Ash would want her to stay strong and be happy.

**[flashback]**

Dawn was sitting in the dressing room in her pink contest dress. She just found out that she didn't make it to the second round, it hadn't happened since her slump at the beginning of her coordinator career. The difference now was that Ash wasn't there to help her.

_Come on Dawn! You haven't lost in the first round for years now! Everyone makes mistakes every now and then, besides, what would Ash think if he were here now and saw you crying over one loss? _

_Actually, Ash would probably kneel down and give me some encouraging speech..._

Dawn sniffled, glancing in the mirror, staring at herself, but more than that, she was lost in thought, thought about Ash.

"_Hey Dawn, so you didn't make it past the first round, but there will always be more contests! No need to worry, right Dawn?" _Dawn heard his voice and when she looked in the mirror she saw the boy. His messy, raven hair sticking out the sides of his red and white baseball cap. His dark brown eyes shining with determination and sincerity, a big smile, showing his perfectly white teeth displayed from ear to ear. She heard his voice, repeating in her head, "_No need to worry... No need to worry... No need to worry..."_

She looked in the mirror one more time, sniffling and barely holding tears back. "A-Ash, i-i-is that really you?" she asked aloud, forgetting that the image she saw was created by her mind. She reached out to take his outstretched hand, closer, closer, she almost had her hand in his. Then instantly Ash vanished and was replaced by nothing but air. Dawn kept her hand in the same spot for a few seconds before dropping it. She lowered her head as a few tears dropped onto her dress. She sniffled a few times and took a few deep breaths, desperately trying to get herself under control.

She looked into the mirror again, her normally bright and cheery blue eyes were filled with tears.

"_No...need...to...worry...right...Dawn?"_ She heard his voice again and couldn't take it anymore.

"WHY, WHY, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO LEAVE ME ASH!" Dawn cried out, sobbing into her hands as tears flowed out of her eyes. Her normally happy face was twisted in anguish as she let out all her sadness. "I-I-I..." she took a deep breath, her tears, still streaming down her soft cheeks, "I can't be strong anymore Ash, I miss you too much. Please, come back! Please!" She said, breaking out into another fit of sobs that wracked her body each time she took a breath. Finally after about 30 minutes she had managed to get to a point where she was rapidly breathing through her nose. She sniffled and wiped her cheek off, "I miss you ash..." She said quietly, "...I miss you."

**[end flashback]**

_Ash... I'll find you, someday, no matter what. I'll find you because I can't stand being away from you any longer..._ Dawn thought to herself as she wiped her eyes and looked out at the horizon, where the light blue sky met the dark blue ocean, determination flashed in her eyes as she wiped the last of the tears away. Dawn was going to find Ash, no matter what. But little did she know, the boy she wanted to be with, so desperately, was on the same ship. And soon, the blue haired girl would meet him.

**A/N: I was just typing so sorry if this chapter was cliche to anyone. The next chapter can be expected within a week. Remember to review! Thanks and happy reading!**

**-Javanos**


	3. Is it Really?

**A/N: Hey everyone, so sorry, this chapter is kinda sad also, but after this chapter it will pick up, I'll make sure of it.  
>Also, Ash left his Unova pokemon with Professor Juniper, who sent them to Oak.<br>Thanks go out to StaraptorFan and PokemonFreak90 for their reviews on my second chapter. Happy reading!  
><strong>**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, though you would think that's kind of obvious **

_Dawn was going to find Ash, no matter what. But little did she know, the boy she wanted to be with, so desperately, was on the same ship._

Chapter 3: Is it Really?

Sometime around midday, with the Sun hanging high in the light blue sky. The waters had calmed, allowing the warm rays of the Sun to filter gently through the surface of the ocean and illuminate the colorful, blue world, teeming with aquatic pokemon, below the surface. A couple months back, Ash boarded the ship in Driftveil City, saying goodbye to his good friends, Cilan and Iris. Having nothing else to do on the ship, other than eat and sleep, Ash decided to do what he normally does, train. Ash and Pikachu would train every day, from running laps around the track, to various pool drills, and even lifting weights. Ash and Pikachu were determined to get better so the next time they challenged a league, they would be the winners.

"Alright Pikachu, that's enough laps for today," Ash said as the little yellow rodent reached the wall, panting hard but not exhausted.

The pool was located on the main deck towards the front of the ship, but didn't take up very much space since the deck was so big. The deck around the pool had been modified to look like a beach. With lots of light tan sand, some white chairs, even a few palm trees and large grey rock formations.

"Pipika," Pikachu said crawling out of the pool and shaking dry before running over to Ash.

"You did great today Pikachu! We improved our time by half a minute!" Ash said excitedly, grabbing the towel he put on a nearby chair and drying himself.

Because of all the training he was doing with Pikachu, Ash had gotten quite a bit toned. As he got out of the pool, wearing a new pair of black swim trunks with red flames on both sides, he drew a slight bit of attention from a few girls who giggled. But Ash didn't care about any of that, to him, the only thing that mattered was to keep up with Pikachu so Pikachu could get better.

"Heh, I bet you're hungry after working so hard right?" Ash ruffled Pikachu's ears as the electric mouse climbed to sit on his trainer's shoulder.

"Pika-pika!"

"Hahaha, I thought so. Come on, lets get some lunch," Ash said, walking along the wooden deck with his towel draped around his shoulders and Pikachu perched in his normal spot. Ash was heading to the rear of the ship because there was an elevator, that he took to get to his room, back there.

As Ash turned the corner, he saw a girl with blue jeans, a blue jacket with what looked like a piplup silhouette and gorgeous, long blue hair. She was leaning on the railing and standing by herself looking off in the distance, almost like she didn't even realize where she was.

_Wow even from the back she looks amazing._

"Hey Pikachu, can you go and get my stuff from the room? I've got something I want to do."

"Pi-pika~chu," Pikachu commented, then crossed his little arms across his chest and made hearts appear in his eyes, " chaa~" Pikachu squeaked , rocking his arms side to side to add emphasis, hoping Ash would get the implications of what he was trying to say.

"What! No! She just looks lonely that's all!" _Why can't I come up with better excuses?_ Ash quickly thought .

"Pi-ka-chuu," Pikachu said as if it were saying "Riiight, and I'm a purple tyranitar dancing, in a sombrero, to Brock's "for the girls" song while shaking maracas," or some similar sarcastic phrase.

"The faster you bring me my stuff, the faster we can go to get lunch," Ash said, which made Pikachu sprint away to get Ash's clothes and wallet.

_Hmm, why is she standing by herself though? You would think someone that pretty would have a boyfriend hanging around._

Ash walked over to where the girl was leaning on the rail.

"Hi there! I'm Ash..." he held his hand out "...I thought you looked a little lonely over here all by yourself and I thought..." he didn't get any further because the girl turned to him.  
>The two of them locked eyes as time seemed to pass in slow motion. Then she took off running, leaving an utterly confused Ash standing at the railing, by himself with his arm still extended.<br>Even though it had actually been less than a second, the way her eyes looked was permanently burned in his memory.  
><em>Those eyes...<em> his mind quickly flashed back to just a few seconds ago when their eyes met ... _They were so... blue, just like..._  
>his mind flashed again, this time, to a few months ago, when he had spotted that red scarf in the store <em>...Her eyes...<em>.

_No, there is no way... there is no way that could have been her... she was always so happy, and confident. The eyes I just saw were filled with fear and sadness... If that really was her, if that really was Dawn... why did she run away from me?_

_[Dawn's POV]  
><em>Dawn was staring out at the ocean, trying to keep her head clear enough to think of what she was going to do once she arrived in Kanto. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed someone walk over and lean on the rail next to her.

"Hi there!..." as soon as she heard the voice her eyes shot open and her pupils dilated in fear.  
><em>No, it can't be...<em> she thought as she saw an outstretched hand, waiting for a handshake.  
>The voice continued to say, "...I'm Ash, I thought you looked a little lonely over here all by yourself and I thought..."<p>

Dawn was shaking by now, her breathing was faster and she was having trouble thinking.  
><em>No it can't be Ash... why? I thought you wanted to see him so badly? <em>She thought as she argued with herself_  
><em>She was trying to figure her scrambled thoughts out as her head turned, without any input, and she saw heart-melting, soft brown eyes filled with caring and self-confidence, she saw his outstretched arm as he waited for a handshake and she was struck with deja vu.

_[flashback]  
><em>_**Dawn heard his voice and when she looked in the mirror she saw the boy. His messy, raven hair sticking out the sides of his red and white baseball cap. His dark brown eyes shining with determination and sincerity, a big smile, showing his perfectly white teeth displayed from ear to ear.  
><strong>__[end flashback]_

_Nonono, this can't be real, it can't be..._ Her mind was racing and all she could think about was the last time she reached for Ash's hand, and how just as she was about to take it, he disappeared.

_[flashback]  
><em>_**She almost had her hand in his, then Ash vanished as she closed her hopeful hand on nothing but air.  
><strong>__[end flashback]_

_This has to be a trick, my mind is playing games with me again,_ she looked from his eyes to his hand and back to his eyes again, _no, I can't loose you again Ash, I can't..._

She didn't know what to do, she was hoping with all her heart that this wasn't a dream, that it wasn't an illusion, that Ash Ketchum really was standing in front of her now. But she was afraid, she was afraid it was a dream, that he was an illusion. Dawn was scared that the exact same thing that happened in the dressing room, would happen now.

_I...I...I want it to be Ash, I want to reach for his hand. _She raised her hand slightly but then froze.

_What if...what if he isn't really there... what if when I reach for his hand, he vanishes again?...  
><em>The scene from the dressing room was playing over and over in her mind.  
>She would just about grab his hand and he would disappear, no matter how many times she tried.<p>

She lowered her hand, _…He seems so real... with that warm, inviting smile and confident look..._

Dawn was torn, she didn't know what to do, she was afraid, so she did what came naturally.

She ran  
>She ran away as fast as she could run.<br>_I'm sorry Ash! But I just can't stand the thought of loosing you again!  
><em>She ran away, leaving Ash confused and worried.

Dawn burst into the room and threw herself on the bed, muffling her sobs with a clean, white pillow. Piplup was very confused and asked, "Piplup?" as if to ask, "Hey Dawn, whats wrong?"

Dawn ignored Piplup and stared, between her fingers, at the pillow she shoved her face into.

_That couldn't have been Ash, it just couldn't, but... what if it was? What if I just ran away from my friend? If it really was Ash, why did he act like he didn't know me? Ash couldn't have forgotten me... could he? No, it's not possible... it's..._ Dawn just stopped thinking, and cried, unsure what else to do as Ash's voice just kept repeating from her memory_**"No...need...to...worry...right...Dawn?"  
><strong>_She had run out of tears a long time ago, but she still cried. Piplup, deeply worried, sat next to her not knowing what to do. Dawn had never been like this, she's been sad before, and even cried a few times, but nothing anywhere near what Piplup saw before him. Piplup saw Dawn's mom pat Dawn's back when she was sad in the past, so Piplup, not knowing what else to do just sat next to Dawn, patting her back lightly with his flipper, "Pip-," he quietly said, saddened by his trainers sadness but not understanding why his trainer was so sad.

Pikachu ran out of the elevator, dragging Ash's clothes behind him. "Pika-pi!" Pikachu mumbled, not being able to shout because he was dragging Ash's clothes in his mouth. He finally reached the spot where Ash stood, dropping the clothes, and looking up twitching his ear. "Pika?" confused as to why Ash was just standing there with this puzzled look on his face. Pikachu poked Ash's leg for a bit, when that didn't work, he tried poking Ash's face, after about 2 minutes Pikachu gave up and gave Ash a thunderbolt.

"WAHAHH! What was that for! Oh, that's right, we still have lunch to eat, don't we Pikachu?" Ash said, coming to his senses.

Even though Pikachu was still wondering why Ash looked so confused, and where that girl went. He pushed his questions aside since he was really hungry, and climbed up on Ash's shoulder.

"Alright Pikachu, let's go get some lunch." Ash said smiling but still thinking about that girl as he and Pikachu walked to the dining hall.

_I don't know for sure who that was, but if it really was Dawn, I **have** to find her! I won't stop until I know Dawn is happy._

**A/N: So there it is! Sorry if it isn't as good as last chapter.  
>I am guessing I'll end the story around chapter 5 so there are two more chapters, but I would give my guess much credit.<br>If you have any questions or are confused about a part, PM me. Also don't forget to review! If you see something incorrect or something you don't like, tell me!  
>Happy reading!<br>-Javanos**


	4. The Red Scarf

**A/N: YES! I DID IT! FINALLY! I was stuck for a while on this chapter since it wasn't in the original plan. That's right, I made this chapter because all you readers seem to be enjoying the story so much. I typed for 6 hours and 25 minutes straight (well almost, there was a 13 minute break in the middle or so), this ended up being my longest chapter to date! I'm really happy with this chapter, and I hope you all enjoy reading it  
><strong>**Oh, and thanks go out to Northern Ranger, videogamebookworm10, StaraptorFan ****and**** pkmaster777 for their reviews on chapter 3. I was really worried about it but you guys gave me my confidence back. ****Happy reading  
><strong>**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, if I did, Dawn would be in the current season.**

_"Alright Pikachu, let's go get some lunch."_

Chapter 4: The Red Scarf

Ash and Pikachu were sitting at a table in the dining hall. The dining hall pretty much was a food court, with various vendors selling different types of food, and lots of chairs and tables filling the rest of the space. Ash had a container with Pikachu's specially made food in his pants pocket. He had filled the bowl Pikachu ate out of saying, "Here you go buddy, eat up!" Then thinking about what he was going to eat.

_Hmmm, I haven't had a steak in a while... then again, the pizza is always good... pizza and wings with blue cheese, mmm. Blue cheese is more white than blue_... Ash randomly thought, letting his thoughts wander..._ That girl's eyes were blue, much more blue than blue cheese, they were also a lot prettier than blue cheese..._

_**[flashback]**_

A light blue sky sets the backdrop for fluffy, white clouds. The Sun was reaching its peak height for the day, shining its bright radiance over the scene. The ocean surface played with the white sunlight making it sparkle like a deep, blue sapphire set on display, matching Dawn's sapphire blue eyes, which stared into soft brown eyes, shinning in the sun like the polished, wooden planks of the deck. Time was meaningless to Ash as he stared into her eyes. But then before he could even think of something to say, those wondrous, blue eyes were torn away from his sight, as this girl, that Ash could have sworn was Dawn, ran away from him.

_**[end flashback]**_

"Pikapi!" Pikachu yelled, bringing Ash out of his dream.

"Huh...wha-?" Ash muttered, confused and slightly tired.

"Pikapi-kapi." Pikachu explained, telling Ash he had fallen asleep right after giving Pikachu his bowl of food.

"Really? I thought that I would have felt hungry if I skipped lunch, but strangely I don't..." Ash said to Pikachu, pondering this abnormality for a bit before deciding to head back to his cabin with Pikachu.

_[Ash's cabin] _

Ash's cabin was about the size of a dorm room. All the walls were painted white and a sand colored carpet was laid out on the floor. When you entered, to the left was a bunk bed with clean, white sheets and to the right was a desk with a large mirror. In the middle of the back wall was a window that took up most of the back wall, showing a view of the rear of the ship. Once Ash opened the door, Pikachu had promptly climbed into the top bunk and fallen asleep. Ash, who normally would fall asleep too, instead was stuck thinking about the time he spent with Dawn four years ago.  
><em>Wow, was it really four years ago that I traveled with Dawn in Sinnoh? Hard to believe so much time has passed. But is four years long enough for someone to completely change? That girl who looked like Dawn looked really sad and she ran away from me. Back when we first met, Dawn actually saved Pikachu. Not only that, but she was making sure he was safe until she found the trainer he belonged to, despite the fact that Pikachu fried her bike. From the moment we met, I knew Dawn had a kind heart, and I quickly learned she had a determination that, sometimes, was stronger than mine. We had our rough patches, but everyone does, and we made it through just fine anyway.<em>

_She was different than Misty and May, Misty was a good friend, but she was kinda violent to me, besides being Brock's "chaperone". I think there could have been something between May and me, we were really good friends and I liked cheering for her in her contests, and there was also the Sea Temple with Manaphy, I could never forget that adventure! Max felt like the little brother I never had. I wonder what he is up to now... Probably competing in the Hoenn league. I still have my half of that ribbon and I'm sure May still has hers too. Then I came to Sinnoh and met Dawn. Dawn was confident from the start, though she did have some problems with the basics, but when I set off from Pallet Town, I did too. Heh, I thought a spearow was a pidgey, but it all ended well because Pikachu and I became best buds __after that. Come to think of it, Dawn told me she had a similar experience when she first met Piplup. We both also don't know our fathers, so I had someone to talk to who understood me. And I'll never forget my first battle with Roark in the gym, Dawn got all dressed up in a cheerleader outfit to cheer me on. I never had and actually still haven't had anyone support me in my battles as much as she did. She was always so happy and it was infectious. _At this, Ash smiled, it was true, he was probably walking with a smile on his face most of the time he was in Sinnoh. _ Her motto was "No need to worry"... I haven't said it since Brock and I left Sinnoh. Those were my departing words...  
><em>Ash remembered the scene as he waved goodbye to Dawn, yelling her catchphrase one last time to cheer her up.

Ash looked around the room, slowly coming out of his thoughts as he looked at his poketch.

**3:00** it displayed on the little screen.

_I'm going to find that girl, if it is Dawn, I have to find her, I have too many questions not to._

Ash stood up and shook Pikachu awake, "Hey Pikachu, I'm gonna go and walk around the ship. I'll probably be a while, but I know you can find me."

Pikachu was slightly annoyed about being disturbed from his peaceful nap, just to be told something he could figure out, and promptly fell back asleep as Ash closed the door behind him.

_Now, where to start... well I guess I'll walk around the main deck since that is how I found her the first time, maybe I'll run into her again. _Ash walked into the elevator and pushed the button to take him to the main deck. While in the elevator Ash tried to think of how he would go about looking for the girl he concluded was Dawn since he figured it was impossible for someone to look that much like his friend, and not be.

_I think I'll start from the back of the ship and work my way forward since I found her leaning on the rail in the back._ Ash decided as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open, bathing Ash in sunlight as he took a step onto the polished wooden planks of the main deck.

Ash made his way through the crowd to reach the rear railing of the main deck, he leaned his back against it as he looked for Dawn's distinctive blue hair. He stood there for about ten minutes before moving to a new spot, where he searched for ten more minutes before moving again. He did this for about an hour before deciding on a new tactic.

_Hey, I'll bet the captain would let me look from the bridge. Up there, I could see the entire main deck so I wouldn't be having to switch spots every ten minutes._

Since Ash had been on the ship for so long (and just because it was Ash) the captain agreed to let Ash search for his friend from the bridge. After about another hour, it was 5:00PM, the captain suggested that Ash search around the dining hall since it was about supper time. Ash thanked the captain and walked to the dining hall.

_If I walk around here long enough, I'm sure I'll spot her eventually, There is no way she would skip dinner! Not having dinner is like a day without the Sun, it can't be done! _Ash thought, but then again, Ash normally only has two thoughts, pokemon and food, with food almost beating out pokemon.

Ash was trying to look for Dawn, but about a hour and a half later, Ash was sitting at a table, well actually it was more like five tables to hold all his food, as he downed plate after plate. After half an hour, Ash had cleaned every plate he had, and was going to go back for seconds when his poketch beeped at him.

The display showed **7:00PM** and Ash remembered he was looking for Dawn, so he somewhat reluctantly left the dining hall. Ash was walking around the ship looking for any sign of Dawn, but not a single trace was found. Ash eventually returned to his room, defeated when his poketch alerted him it was 10:00PM.

The door opened to reveal Pikachu doing various exercises he and Ash had come up with.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked, stopping his exercises and looking at Ash

Ash had his eyes hidden beneath the rim of his hat as he shook his head, telling Pikachu that the intended goal had not been met.

Pikachu walked over to his trainer and patted his shoe, as if saying, "It's ok Ash, we'll figure something out." Then, walked back over to his spot on the floor to continue his set of exercises.

Ash walked over to his bed and sat down, depressed about not being able to find Dawn, when his hand brushed against something. Ash looked down to find a bag containing three scarves and a lint roller. _Oh look, a lint roller_, Ash thought simply, unsure why he had such a simple thought.

Then he picked up the bag and reached inside. When he pulled his hand out, he had one of the scarves. He looked at it closely and noticed it was actually machine made, that or the shopkeeper's wife was the best sewist in existence.

It was soft and plush, but not fuzzy, _kinda like a cotton ball_ Ash thought as he held the scarf in his hands, moving it around and rotating it like it was a ball. _I never said what colors I wanted, _Ash suddenly realized and quickly looked in the bag where there was a scarf that was light blue on one end and faded to dark blue on the other end, the other scarf was a silver gray color.  
>Ash then looked at the scarf he had pulled out, the scarf he wanted in the first place, the red scarf.<p>

_Dawn wore a scarf just like this almost all the time while we traveled together, it looked great on her. _Ash thought, sad that he couldn't find her today.

_Whenever I was feeling down, Dawn would try to cheer me up, like after my battle with Paul._

_**[flashback]**_

Ash was returning to the pokecenter after his pokemon had run out in the field to find him. He was in better spirits than when he left, but still not 100%, when he was called into the lobby. Ash sat down and in front of him was a makeshift stage, it looked pretty good for having such a short time to be set up.

_But what is this all about?_ Ash wondered, he was then informed by Nurse Joy that Dawn and her pokemon had set up a show for Ash and his pokemon, to help them feel better and cheer them up.

_Wow, I never thought one of my friends would do this for me._ Ash thought to himself as he laughed along with his pokemon at the show.

_**[end flashback]**_

_Dawn... _

_**[flashback]**_

"DAWN!" Ash shot his hand out and grabbed Dawn's wrist before she fell out of the balloon.

_Come on Ash! You have to pull her up! You can't let go!_

Just then Dialga and Palkia flew by the balloon, rocking the basket. Ash watched as if time slowed down as Dawn's hand slipped through his grip, he tried to grab her fingers, but it was too late. He heard Dawn scream as time seemed to go from being slow, to just plain stopping. Ash desperately tried to think of something to do, anything, his adventures with Dawn up to that point flashed through his mind. He then remembered the promise he made to Johanna.

"_Make sure you take good care of her" _Johanna's voice rang through Ash's ears as time began to move again.

_NOO, DAWN! _"DAWN!" Ash yelled as Dawn fell from the balloon.

_**[end flashback]**_

_I don't know what I would have done if that platform hadn't been there. I don't know if I would be able to not blame myself for... No, I can't even think something like that. Dawn means too much to me... wait, what did I just say? Of course she means a lot to me, she is a good friend, better than good, she is my best friend next to Brock and Pikachu._ Ash then remembered all the contests he cheered for her, with Pikachu and all of Dawn's pokemon getting dressed up for it, just like how Dawn did for Ash's gym battles. Then he remembered the fashion contest that Dawn convinced him to compete in. Ash and Pikachu had dressed up like cavemen and Pikachu had a drum that he played with his tail. But the night before...

_**[flashback]**_

"Hey Dawn, what are you doing out here?" Ash walked out on the balcony where Dawn was sitting.

"Oh hey Ash, I'm trying to come up with a design for the contest tomorrow," she replied.

Ash picked up one of the papers. "Wow Dawn, these are really good!" he said, complimenting her.

"But none of them are right!" Dawn replied frustrated.

"Ash, I just finished yours and Pikachu's costume for tomorrow." Brock stuck his head out of the room and told Ash.

_I wish I could help Dawn, but she knows more about this stuff than I do. _Ash thought

"Alright!" Ash exclaimed, instead of voicing his thoughts, as he quickly walked inside, turning his focus to Pikachu.

_[time skip]_

Ash had already presented and was standing with Pikachu in their costumes when he heard Dawn's name called.

The curtain was pulled back to reveal Dawn and her buneary. Dawn had gone for the simplistic appeal with a blue-tinted white dress and matching earrings. Dawn was matching the colors for what her performance would be, but Ash couldn't get his eyes off Dawn.

_Wow, she looks amazing, no not amazing. Beautiful, just... beautiful. _Ash thought, with her carefully cared for hair hanging loose around her shoulders, the dress complimenting her beautifully. He finally managed to get his eyes off her in time to see a little of Buneary's performance, before his eyes, by their own will, returned to Dawn. _Just beautiful..._

_**[end flashback]**_

_Hahaha, Dawn dragged us into more things than anyone else, but we always ended up having fun. Her contest style battling also helped us in actual battles though, with that spin dodge, and the counter-shield. I used those two so much in Sinnoh I can't remember all the times. I may have started off helping Dawn, but by the end, she was helping me, just as much, if not more. She didn't have to go to the Sinnoh league, but she did just to cheer me on... She made sure that she was there for me when I needed it... _Ash looked at the red scarf in his hands, suddenly coming to a realization, putting the scarf in his right hand and clenching it into a fist. His eyes flashed with a sudden determination as he stood up. He looked at his poketch, **1:30AM** but Ash didn't care what time it was. _Dawn was always there for me when I needed someone, whether it was just someone to talk to at night about little problems, or giving me the confidence I needed in a battle, she was always there for me. Now, Dawn needs someone, I promised her mom I would take care of her. Dawn, you helped me, now it is my turn!_ Ash's eyes had a fire burning in them, he was determined to not let his friend down. Especially not one as special as Dawn.

"Pikachu, I'll be back!" Ash said as he ran out the door, not bothering to check if Pikachu heard him or not.

_I'll knock on every single door in this gigantic ship if I have to, but you can be sure that_

_**I Will Find You Dawn Berlitz!**_

Ash ran down the hallway, taking the stairs down to the main deck.

Dawn woke up in her room at 1:00AM. She had been trying to sleep since 8:00PM but she kept thinking of Ash.

_Maybe if I get some fresh air, that will clear my head. _Dawn thought to herself as she slid her feet into her slippers and walked out to the main deck and leaned on white railing.

_Wow, the moon is so pretty tonight, it makes the polished floors look like platinum with its silver light._ Dawn thought, taking in a deep breath of the cool, crisp night air.

_Could that really have been Ash I saw today? If it was, what kind of impression did I give him just running away like that? Maybe he thinks I don't want to see him, or that I'm upset with him or something..._ _what..what if...if... What if he thinks I hate him? Would Ash try and find me and ask why? Or would he keep his distance? I don't know because I never talked to Ash about relationships or anything like that... _Dawn continued, making herself more and more worried and upset.

_Why did he act like he didn't know me? Maybe he really forgot who I was, I was such an insignificant part of his life he forgot about me in four years, what if he forgot me earlier than that? I feel like I did enough to be remembered for at least one year... did I? What if he forgot me before even a year? Does he even remember any of the times we shared?_

_**[flashback]**_

Ash and Giratina had defeated Zero in the Reverse World and rebuilt the ice pillars that held the glacier in place, before returning to the flower garden. Ash was now standing next to Dawn as Shaymin joined his friends in the sky. They had just said their goodbyes and were watching the shaymin fly off to make a new flower garden. Out of the corner of her eye, Dawn saw Ash look over at her, and then a look of understanding replaced the confused look he had a few moments earlier. The two of them stared up at the sky as sparkling gracidea petals fluttered down around them. It was a moment Dawn never wanted to end. Standing in a meadow of beautiful flowers, next to the boy who she wanted to be with forever. She breathed in and smiled, it was a beautiful moment that needed no speech, no music, no nothing, it was perfect as it was.

_**[end flashback]**_

_Did he remember that? Was that a perfect moment for him, like it was for me?_ Dawn wondered, she felt tears starting form in her eyes, but she pushed them back. She had cried enough sad tears today, she wouldn't let herself cry anymore.

_I have to stop thinking like this, I won't get anywhere if I keep it up. The ship will dock in Kanto tomorrow, I have to clear my mind and focus on the task I came here to do which is compete in contests. If I'm absorbed in my own thoughts, I won't be able to successfully compete, and I'm representing Sinnoh here._ Dawn lightly slapped her cheeks with both hands to wake herself from her thoughts.

_But it is going to be more difficult than ever before to keep my mind off Ash since I'm going to be in his home region. Maybe I can swing by Pallet Town, I'm sure that would help me. OH! And if I did that I would get to see Prof. Oak in person!_ At this Dawn got really excited and even jumped up and down a little.

_Ok, I'm most definitely going to Pallet Town now, I can't wait to hear some of the Professor's poetry!_

Dawn had always been a fan of Prof. Oak's poetry and when she traveled with Ash he came up with a few for Dawn, who always was ecstatic when he did.

After a bit, Dawn calmed down enough to think.

_Ok so to get to Pallet I have to go through Vermillion City... why does that sound so familiar?_

_**[flashback]**_

"My training center is in Vermillion City, feel free to visit anytime!" Ou said, getting on the bus with Ambipom

_**[end flashback]**_

_That's right! Ou the pokemon ping pong player has a training center there, and Ambipom is there! _Dawn thought about Ambipom for a little

_Ambipom was great in contest, but she was originally Ash's pokemon... Ash..._ Dawn realized this and her attitude sobered.

_No matter how hard I try, I somehow always end up thinking about Ash... I wish he were here right now..._ Dawn look down at the moon's reflection on the calm ocean waters.

_For all I know, I would still be stuck somewhere in Sinnoh if it weren't for Ash. He helped me so much, I did as much as I could to repay him, but it wasn't anywhere near what he did for me. He taught me the basics, he helped me train for my contests, he supported me and cheered for me, he barely knew me, yet he agreed to travel with me to keep me safe and to help me._ Dawn reminisced looking up at the full moon. She sighed inwardly and turned to head back to her room thinking, _It's getting really late, it is already 1:35AM, I need some sleep so I can start traveling tomorrow..._

**[Ash's POV]**

Ash looked at his poketch, **1:35AM, **he looked up, as he finally reached the main deck, and froze. There was a figure standing by the railing looking up at the moon, he saw the person turn and the moonlight caught her face, She had sapphire eyes and beautiful long hair that was the color of the blue ocean on the moonlit night. _Dawn!_ She had turned her back on the railing and started walking away.

_Come on Ash! You can't let her get away, not this time!_

"Dawn! Wait!" Ash called out. Dawn instantly froze as she looked in the direction of the voice.

"Dawn," Ash said again, walking out of the shadowed stairwell and into the silvery moonlight.

"a-a...ash?"Dawn whispered not believing her eyes. "I..i...is... is that really you Ash?" Dawn whispered her question, as her fears from earlier reappeared making her want to run and causing tears to form in her shimmering blue eyes.

"Dawn, please, don't run away. I'm here Dawn, it's me." Ash said reassuringly as he slowly walked towards Dawn, who was frozen in place.

"It really is me Dawn... I really am Ash... don't you recognize me?" Ash asked, unsure if what he was doing was right, or if she was upset with him for something. But all his worries disappeared as Dawn ran to him, throwing her arms around his body, crying into his shoulder. At first he was taken aback, he wasn't quite expecting this from Dawn, but he quickly recovered and wrapped his arms around her back, softly stroking her hair with his left hand, while still wrapped around his right, the red scarf. Ash looked at for a moment and thought

_Thank you._ He wasn't sure why he thought that, or who he was thankful to, but he knew that he was thankful.

"It's ok Dawn, I'm here, no need to worry right?" Ash whispered in her ear. _I finally did it, I finally found_ Dawn.  
>"I finally found you Dawn Berlitz..." He paused, taking in the moment, "...I finally found you."<p>

**[Dawn's POV]**

Dawn had just started walking back to her room when she heard a familiar voice call out

"Dawn! Wait!" _No, not again!_ She turned to look where the voice was coming from.

"Dawn," She heard the voice say again as she watch Ash walk out from the shadows, into the moonlight. He had on his traditional red cap, and he changed from his Unova clothes to his traditional Sinnoh clothes. In the moonlight, it was easy to see his arms had become more defined, and there was some support underneath his shirt too. But Dawn's mind had gone into overdrive again as all her worries from earlier that day returned. _What if my mind is just playing tricks again?_

"a-a,,,ash?" Dawn heard herself whisper, _I want it to be him. _"I...i...is... is that really you Ash?" she whispered again. She could feel tears ready to roll down out of her eyes but she kept them back. _What if all of this is just another illusion? What if..._ But her thoughts were interrupted by Ash's voice saying,

"Dawn, please, don't run away. I'm here Dawn, it's me."

_I really want to believe him..._ She thought as Ash walked towards her.

"It really is me Dawn... I really am Ash... don't you recognize me?" he asked her.

_How could I forget you Ash? It would be like trying to live without air._

And with that Dawn threw aside her worries and ran to Ash, throwing her arms, hoping, praying she would find Ash and not air, and when her arms wrapped around a solid body, inwardly she jumped for joy. She buried her face into his shoulder and cried, not tears of sadness, but tears of joy. Tears of finally finding the boy she has missed so terribly for years.

She felt his arms wrap around her and his hand stroked her soft hair.

"It's ok Dawn, I'm here, no need to worry right?" she heard Ash whisper in her ear. And it was there she realized that she wasn't dreaming, she really had finally found Ash. The boy who she looked up to, the boy she had tried to repay for everything he had done, the boy... she had fallen in love with. And right now, she, was the happiest girl on earth as Ash whispered in her ear, "I finally found you Dawn Berlitz... I finally found you."

**A/N: So how did you like it? I worked really hard to come up with a way for Ash and Dawn to find each other that wasn't cliche (or at least, really cliche, it is difficult for it to not be cliche). Please remember, Review! Tell me what you liked, didn't like, what I could improve on, so on and so forth. And not capitalizing Ash's name at the end was on purpose, it made it look softer.  
>Thanks to all my readers and reviewers for inspiring me to take this planned one shot and turn it into this. Next chapter is planned to be the last chapter, but then again, this chapter wasn't planned originally, so who knows? Also, just to be sure, Ou was that ping pong player with the shiftry who won the tournament. I saw his named subbed like that while watching so that is how I spelled it, Happy reading!<strong>

**-Javanos **


	5. Sunrises

**A/N:** **YES! After many close calls with writer's block, I hit inspiration! For the past week I've been working at this, paragraph by paragraph, until Friday night when I managed to get the story done! I'm really sorry that it took me so long to get this last chapter out guys. But I figured that you guys would prefer quality over update speed, especially considering this is the last chapter! Throughout the chapter Ash and Dawn might seem OOC, but I feel Ash is entitled to being at least slightly smarter after four years, I hope that this chapter is at least as good as you guys were hoping for. oh and I typed a lot at the end (Now the credit chapter) the original length of this chapter is 6,119 words, well before editing so +or- a few hundred. (my longest by almost 1000 words!) Well I'll stop typing and let you guys get to reading! Happy reading!**

**Oops, almost forgot the disclaimer.  
>Disclaimer: As much as Javanos wishes, Javanos does not own Pokemon nor any related material with the exception of this story.<strong>

Final Chapter: Sunrises

"_I finally found you Dawn Berlitz, I finally found you." _

A white castle, standing out as it floated in the otherwise black night. The full moon was like a spotlight, illuminating the large ship in silver light, and making the calm, dark ocean waters, sparkle like a starry night. Ash stood on the polished wooden deck of the ship, holding Dawn in an embrace as she cried, her face buried into the part of his shirt that covered his shoulder, the white fabric turning slightly darker as Dawn's tears soaked into the cotton fabric. Ash could feel the wet cloth of his shirt against his skin, He didn't know if she was crying because she was happy, sad or a mixture of both. So he just stood there, keeping his right arm around the middle of her back, pulling her close, and the other, wrapped around her shoulder as his hand slowly stroked her soft blue hair that glittered like the ocean they were floating on.

"It's ok Dawn, it's ok," he said softly, and hugged her a little tighter.

_I can't put into words how happy I am that it really was Dawn that I ran into, but why was, or for that matter, is, she so sad? I don't even know why she is crying, maybe because she has... no, I'm not that dense anymore, besides, I'm pretty sure someone who has something in their eye doesn't cry like this... _

"Dawn?" Ash said, pausing for her to respond. He felt her crying start to slow down, her shoulders stopped heaving so much, and she started breathing through her nose, trying to control her breathing. She sniffled a few times before Ash continued, "Dawn, why are you crying?"

She sniffled a few more times, she was still taking deeper breaths than normal, but she had managed to stop her tears. Slowly she lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at Ash's face. She wiped her eyes and sniffled a few more times as she moved her hands to Ash's shoulders. The thing that surprised Ash though, was that she was smiling. Her faintly pink lips were stuck together and curved upward from one ear to the other. Her nose was a little pink from sniffling so much, and her eyes were swollen and red from crying so much today. But Ash didn't see the puffy, red swelling around her eyes when Dawn looked at him, Ash saw her smile, even without showing her teeth, Ash forgot it was night and he could have sworn the Sun was out. He saw her brilliant smile, and her beautiful, blue eyes that shimmered and sparkled in the moonlight, like the clear blue water of a tropical island on a sunny day. He stared into her eyes, loosing any sense of time and place. He was floating in a sunny paradise with clear blue water below and an endless, light blue sky above, with a bright yellow Sun shinning down, it was warm, and he was happily content with just staying in the aquatic paradise forever.

Dawn couldn't believe that it was really Ash! She couldn't stop crying tears of joy and she stood in his embrace, hugging him, tightly, back. Every time she tried to think of something to express how she felt, she squealed with happiness inside. She buried her face deeper into his shirt, loving the feel of the boy's soft shirt against her face, inhaling his scent. She couldn't keep her tears back as all her fears, worries and sadness from the past four year fell away. Dawn couldn't remember the last time she felt this happy!

_I feel like... like I'm soaring through the sky! Finally, free of anything and everything! I feel like jumping, singing, dancing, anything! I-I... hahahahaha , I don't even know what to think next! I'm just so... HAPPY! _Dawn squealed into Ash's shirt and hugged him tighter, not knowing what else to do.

"Dawn?..." she heard the raven haired boy whisper softly in her ear. She realized she was still crying and he was probably thinking she was still sad. Dawn tried to calm down, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, sniffling a few times.

_Ok Dawn, get a grip. Ash is probably worried right now... But, I'm just..._ She couldn't help herself as a huge grin came to her face.

"Dawn? Why are you crying?" Ash asked after a bit,

_Probably waiting for me to calm down_. Dawn thought to herself, still with a ridiculously large smile on her face.

Slowly, she lifted her head from his shoulder which, now was soaked, and stared into the dark brown eyes that looked like smooth, melted, dark chocolate. His gaze was warm, filled with so much happiness it seemed like his eyes were smiling. But there was also another emotion that was almost as strong as his happiness, concern. It balanced out his eyes and she saw his lips in a straight line. But before she could make a thought, his expression changed from serious, to confusion, with one eyebrow arched and the other furrowed.

She moved her hands from, around his upper back, to rest on Ash's shoulders. She stared into his chocolate eyes again and found any traces of concern gone, replaced with wonderment and loving care as he realized that she wasn't sad. She thought back to when she was traveling with Ash and Brock and they were stuck in the Valley Windworks.

_**[flashback]**_

"Ash really is quite the catch." Lrya said.

_**[end flashback]**_

Dawn continued to look into Ash's eyes. _His eyes are filled with selflessness, sincerity, determination, kindness, compassion... the list goes on and on. He isn't perfect, but maybe Lyra was right, Ash could be quite a catch for someone, someday..._

They both came out of their thoughts at about the same time, still locked in an embrace. Ash was still holding Dawn, but he had moved his left arm to rest just above his right arm in the middle of Dawn's back. Dawn still had her hands placed on Ash's shoulders. They looked into each others' eyes for a little longer.

"Hey, lets go over to the railing, my legs are getting tired and I could use something to lean on." Ash said, blushing slightly and breaking the embrace. He then lead her over to the white siding of the boat with one arm still around her shoulder, holding her close to the side of his body.

Dawn also blushed when she realized how they must have looked before Ash broke their embrace. But she was happy he still held her close as they walked to the railing, she felt warm and safe with Ash's arm draped around her, pulling her closer to his side.

Once they got to the railing, Ash used both arms to lean on it. Dawn was disappointed since to do so, Ash had to remove his arm from her shoulder, but she didn't let it dampen her mood. As they looked into the black sky, contrasting with the beautiful, pale moon hanging in it.

"So, what have you been doing for the past four years Dawn?" Ash asked, truly curious what his friend was up to.

"Oh well first I went to Hoenn to compete in contests, I did great there, winning the first five contests, but at the Grand Festival I lost in the finals, again," Dawn said, hopping up to sit on top of the railing.

"Oh, that's too bad, but second place isn't a bad thing, especially when it is a championship tournament!" Ash said, knowing the feeling of being runner-up only too well.

Dawn smiled at his optimism and continued, "Yeah, actually it wasn't too bad, I lost to May and she used some awesome combinations in our battle. She really was good and deserved to win, after all, she is the Hoenn Princess. After the Grand Festival, I went back to my home in Twinleaf Town. Mom was happy to see me again, but I after about a week, I decided to try the Sinnoh Grand Festival again. It was strange thinking I would be traveling Sinnoh again, but alone. Luckily, apparently Kenny had gotten back from... wherever he went, and said he would join me!"

"Wow Dawn, that's great that you didn't have to travel alone! Journeys are always more fun with friends to travel with." Ash commented, smiling as he briefly went through the many adventures he had, and the friends he met along the way, including the special blue haired girl who held a special spot in his memories.

"So what happened after Kenny joined you?"

"Well, the first contest was in Jubilife City and both Kenny and I entered. Piplup did great, and really impressed the judges in the appeal, but we lost in the second round to Kenny and his empoleon, who ended up winning the Jubilife ribbon. His empoleon had gotten so much stronger than the last time we saw them. After the contest, we celebrated by getting some ice cream! It was really good and we talked about contest strategies, after the Jubilife contest, there wasn't really anything overly exciting. Kenny could get from town to town **without** getting lost." Dawn emphasized the last part, remembering how Ash had just about as good a sense of direction as Piplup did.

"Hey! We always made it to town eventually!" Ash said back, defending his orienteering skills.

Dawn just giggled, bringing a hand to her lips to try and hide her smile.

"So Ash, before you left Kanto again, you called me and said you were going to Unova. How long were you there?"

"Uhhh..." Ash took a hand off the railing and started counting his fingers, "...1..2..3..4..." he muttered to himself, "four years?... I think?" Ash said as though he was asking Dawn for the right answer.

Dawn just sweat-dropped, _well he may have gotten a bit more muscular, a little less dense, and older, but he still isn't very good at math I see. _

_**[flashback]**_

"The architect Godey built these towers 100 years ago," Alice said.

It was a bright and sunny day and Ash, Brock and Dawn were floating over Alamos Town, for Dawn's next contest, in Alice's balloon and Alice was telling them about the Time-Space Towers.

"Wow, that's like ten times..." Ash brought up his gloved hands and started counting.

"Ten," Dawn quickly told him, unsurprised by his lack of knowledge in math, but still slightly amused by the boy.

"Yeah, that," Ash said, giving a nervous laugh and rubbing the back of his head, before flashing one of his silly grins.

_**[end flashback]**_

"So you got on this boat from Unova?" Dawn asked, trying a different method since she was unsure about Ash's answer to the first one.

"Yeup, I almost missed it too, but I couldn't leave without getting a gift for my mom." Ash said smiling.

"Ohhh, that's so sweet Ash! What did you get her?"

"A lint roller," Ash replied simply. Dawn nearly lost her balance on the rail, and almost fell into the ocean.

"You are gone for four years in a distant and little known region, and all you get your mom is a lint roller?" Dawn asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, she likes cleaning, and so I figured she would like a lint roller..."

_No matter how long I know Ash, it seems he always is able to surprise me with how dense he can be._ Dawn thought, shaking her head slowly.

"...Although I did see a red scarf, and was going to buy it for her, but then I realized she doesn't wear scarves..." Ash continued, oblivious to Dawn and her disbelief. He lifted his right hand from the railing and looked at the red scarf in his hand.

Dawn followed Ash's eyes and noticed the scarf in Ash's hand. "I thought you said you bought a lint roller instead of the scarf?"

"Well, I was going to because the shopkeeper told me that it would be $30 for the scarf..."

"YOU THOUGHT $30 WAS TOO MUCH TO SPEND ON YOUR MOM!" Dawn yelled the question at Ash who sweat-dropped.

"Well, she doesn't even like scarves, so... yes?" he said timidly, slightly afraid of how Dawn would take it.

"Oh... well, that still doesn't explain why you have it now," She said after calming down.

"Well, I told the shopkeeper that it was too much, he started to nearly beg me to buy it, first he offered two scarves, then he offered three scarves and a free lint roller, all for $30. So I decided to take his offer," Ash explained, not realizing how intently Dawn was looking at the scarf in his hand.

"You know, that scarf looks almost exactly like mine." Dawn said surprised as one of her hands went to her neck where her scarf usually is, but since she was in her Pjs, the scarf wasn't there.

"Yeah, it does, that is why I b..." _Crap, I can't tell Dawn that I bought all three scarves and the lint __roller, just because this red one looked like hers... think Ash, quick! Come on, you can do this, what starts with "b" and would make sense here? I really hope I haven't used up my allotted genius moments already. _Ash was calm on the outside, but in his head, it was busier than a combee hive.

"That is why you... ?" Dawn looked at Ash, he had suddenly stopped mid-sentence and had a blank look on his face. "Hello? Earth to Ash!" Dawn said, waving her hand in front of his face.

"Huh, wha?" Ash said looking around like he didn't realize where he was.

"You were in the middle of a sentence Ash. You were saying something about why you..." Dawn said, reminding Ash of what he left in the middle of.

"Oh, right, yeah, that is why I...I..." he sweat-dropped _Come on... work! Anything will work right now! _"That is why I~I brought it out here," he slowly said, dragging out the "I" and grinning sheepishly.

"Oh... wait... so you brought a scarf, that you bought even though your mom doesn't like scarves...you brought it out here on the deck, at 1:35 in the morning, because it looks like my scarf?" Dawn asked, trying to make sense of what Ash just said, almost loosing herself in her own summary.

"Uhhh... Yeah! Exactly! You stole the words right out of my mouth HEY! Did I tellyouIgotsecond placeintheUnovaLeague!" Ash said without pausing from word to word, in an effort to change the topic.

"You did? That's great Ash!" Dawn said, happy for her friend, forgetting about trying to figure out what exactly Ash said about the scarf.

_Phew, that was close. _"Yeup, I made it all the way to the finals but I lost to my rival, his name was Trip. In some ways, he reminded me of Paul, but he was nicer to his pokemon so we got along fine, except he insisted that Kanto was "the boonies" and that Unova was so much more civilized than any of the other regions." Ash said with a hint of disgust, but only a very tiny hint.

"That's too bad that you lost, but there are always more leagues to challenge. No need to worry!" Dawn said encouragingly, smiling and surprising herself when she said her old catchphrase. She hadn't said it ever since loosing that contest. _I didn't even think about it, it just slipped out..._

"Yeah, Pikachu and I have been training extra hard here on the ship ever since we left Unova. Preparing for whatever we do next!" Ash said, a smile appearing on his face and determination showing in his brown eyes.

"But so, if you left Unova after the league ended, what did you do for the other three years?" Dawn asked, unable to think of what could take the driven boy years to complete.

"Well, Unova is a pretty big and diverse region with tons of pokemon I've never seen before. Prof. Oak was very interested and told me to find out as much as I could about Unova," Ash explained to Dawn.

"So you were like a pokemon researcher then, right?" Dawn asked, interested in finding out more of what Ash did for the past four years.

"Yeah, I guess I kinda was, I even helped make a few discoveries!" Ash said, thinking back over his time in Unova.  
><em>I had a lot of fun in Unova, and it helped that I made some great friends who traveled with me, but, four years was a long time to spend in one region. I'm not even sure of all I did, I do remember that I missed my mom, Brock, Dawn<em>_, Brock's food__._

"It was fun in Unova, but there were a few things I missed, most important was my mom." Ash said, continuing his thoughts.

Dawn looked at him, his face glowed in the moonlight and his eyes stared into the moon, reflecting its marvelous silver light. It was as if he could see his mom by staring into the big, bright circle long enough. The two just stood/sat there in silence, enjoying each others company on the peaceful night.

After a bit, Dawn hopped off the railing, and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Ash, she ducked her head under his arm and wrapped her arms around his stomach, she laid her head against the front of Ash's shoulder, a small, comfortable smile appeared on her face and she closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of Ash's body. She didn't know why she did it, maybe because she was tired, but either way, she felt a warm happiness in her heart.

Ash had just finished talking and Dawn wasn't saying anything, so he stood there looking at the moon, thinking about random thoughts and memories while gazing at the moon. Out of the corner of his eye he saw some movement, then he felt Dawn's arms wrap around his stomach, while her head gently rested on his shoulder. He turned his head to look at Dawn, slightly surprised by Dawn's action. He saw Dawn had her cheek against the front of his shoulder, her blue eyes closed and her pink lips formed a happy smile. Ash smiled himself, _Dawn can be so __cute sometimes.. ok fine, most of the time she is cute. _He admitted to himself as her breathing began to slow. _I wonder how long we have been out here, it has to have been a few hours. It makes sense that Dawn is tired, but then...Why am I not?_ Ash continued his thoughts, gently guiding Dawn from the railing to a nearby bench. They sat down and a gentle, but chilly, breeze blew across the deck, making Dawn shiver and snuggle closer to Ash. Ash was looking at the red scarf, still in his hand when Dawn snuggled closer to him. He saw that she looked cold, so carefully he loosely wrapped the scarf around Dawn's neck, and then pulled her closer to him, looking at her calm, smooth face, before looking at his poketch, then the moon.

_Why am I not tired? It's 4:00AM, I love sleep, why am I not tired then?_ He sighed and looked back at Dawn, her breathing had fallen into a rhythm, indicating she was asleep. Her soft skin glowed in the silver light of the moon and her face was so calm and peaceful.

_She is so pretty, even asleep... _Ash thought as he gently ran his fingers through Dawn's silky, blue hair.

_I knew her for a year, and in that year we became best friends. But then we went our separate ways, hers was coordinating and designing, I went to Unova for a new adventure...Four years apart... and then today we meet for the first time in those four years. First she runs away from me, then I find her crying, then she is smiling, then crying again... Now she is asleep... still hugging me... I suppose that this would be pretty strange, not to mention awkward, if it were Misty or May, but not Dawn..._ Ash looks at Dawn's sleeping figure again, paying the most attention to her gentle face.

_I like Dawn, I really do,_ Ash thought, switching his train of thought.  
><em>I really do like her a lot...but...do I like her more than a friend does? <em>Ash continued to softly run his hand through Dawn's hair. The midnight blue strands were cool against his warm skin, and they were so smooth against his skin.  
><em>Her hair is just so<em>... well he couldn't really figure out what, or how to describe how soft and smooth her hair was, so he just returned to his thoughts.

_I missed Dawn so much the past four years. I would think about her almost every night, wondering what she was doing, if she was still as confident as she was when I traveled with her... I missed being able to talk to her about life, about my problems, about food... well actually I guess you could just group problems and food together since the only problems not covered in life, were food related problems. _Ash's stomach gurgled, causing Dawn to stir slightly.

_Ok, no more food thoughts, I don't want to be waking Dawn up because of my stomach...anyway, she was always there for me whenever I needed someone. Iris and Cilan were good friends, but not really the type you talk about deep stuff with, especially since it seemed Iris was always eating an apple, even when talking about deep subjects. Most of the time, it seems like people think the biggest problem I think about is when the next meal is. I mean, yeah that is pretty far up there, but being the way I am, I almost never have anytime for myself. I fill my head with the problems and worries of all my friends and pokemon, so much so, that sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in all of it. But when I was with Dawn, everything just seemed to vanish, I could be myself when it was just her and me, even though I worried for her... I guess it is in my nature to try and take on everyone's problems since I grew up with just my mom who is always worrying about things. I would always try and help my mom by solving whatever it was that was causing her to worry, except of course my journey to become a master, we agreed on that one..._

_**[flashback]**_

"Ash, I know you want to become a pokemon master, so I want you to follow your dream."

It was a week before Ash would turn 10 and embark on his quest to become a pokemon master.

"But mom, what about you? Won't you be worried sick? What if something happens and..." Ash was cut off by his mom

"Ash, a mother will always worry about her son, but I don't want to be the reason you don't achieve your dream Ash. Don't worry about me, if anything happens, Samuel is just down the road." Delia said, reassuring her son that this is what she wanted.

"Are you sure mom?" Ash asked, still slightly unsure. Ash really did want to set out on a journey and become a pokemon master, but he also knew his mother's tendencies to worry about things a bit much.

"I'm sure sweetie, just be sure to wake up on time so you get a pokemon, and be sure to change your underwear every day." Delia said firmly to Ash.

Ash felt his eyes water, "Thanks mom! I'll make sure I make you proud!"

_**[end flashback]**_

_I'll make sure I make you proud mom..._ Ash thought as he slowly opened his eyes.

_Wait... if I just opened my eyes... did I fall asleep? If I did, why is it still dark?_ Ash looked at his poketch again, **6:30AM** it displayed. _WHAT THE HECK? _Ash thought, freaked out by how abnormal his sleep schedule was tonight. _This just isn't right, why in the world, no wait, better yet, HOW in the world was I up until, who knows when, sometime between 4:00 and 6:30, and then woke up, before the sun! What is going on with me?_

Before Ash's sudden realization of how weird his sleeping was, he was peacefully sitting on the bench with Dawn, his head resting gently on top of hers, his arm dropped to her stomach, Dawn was still hugging him, occasionally muttering random things in her sleep, but too quietly for Ash to understand. But when he realized the time, his head bolted upright, and he began to move his arm.

"huh? What is going on?" a sleepy voice asked.

Ash looked over and saw Dawn, she took her arms from around Ash and stretched them upwards after covering a yawn.

"I guess we fell asleep on this bench?" Ash said, still unsure if he actually fell asleep.

"Oh...ok Ash..." Dawn said, still not even half awake, "... Wait... ASH!" Dawn practically screamed, becoming fully awake. _Oh my gosh, it really wasn't a dream! Everything that happened last night, really happened?_

"Yeah, that's my name," Ash replied, confused by Dawn's reaction.

"So, last night, when you found me by the railing... that wasn't a dream?" Dawn asked, making sure, despite the fact that she was sitting right next to Ash.

"I'm pretty sure that wasn't a dream, unless we had the exact same dream, and ended up sleepwalking out here..." Ash said, still bewildered by how fine he felt despite his lack of sleep.

Dawn was so happy it wasn't a dream, she hugged Ash again, but noticed he didn't respond, she looked at his face and found his eyebrows furrowed.

"Ash, is everything ok? You aren't acting like yourself." Dawn asked, worried as a million possibilities flew through her head.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Dawn, it's just that the last time I can remember looking at my poketch, it said it was 4:00AM and then the next time I did it said 6:30AM, that means I got less than two and a half hours of sleep. But I feel fine, better than fine in fact! I can't figure out why though. I love my sleep! Me, getting less than two and a half hours of sleep **and** staying up until 4:30AM, is something that just doesn't make sense. The only times that anything gets even close to that is when I'm doing something, not just standing or sitting..." Ash looked off again thinking about possible explanations.

"Really? Hmm, maybe because we are on a ship? Nono, if you got on in Unova, that means you've been on the ship for at least a couple months... You've slept outside before... What about because you were standing?" Dawn asked, hoping she could help Ash figure out his problem. Normally she would just tease him about getting so serious about something like sleep, but this seemed to _**really**_ upset him, so Dawn decided she should try to help instead of teasing.

"Nope, I've fallen asleep standing before too," Ash said to Dawn, who looked at him with a face that said "really Ash?"

"Well, I'm out of ideas, sorry Ash," Dawn said, hugging Ash again to show her sympathy.

As he felt her delicate arms wrap around him, an idea, that was more a feeling, hit Ash.  
><em>No...No, it can't be that...can it? <em>Ash thought as he wrapped his hands around Dawn's back, returning her hug.

_But...No...Really? _He looked at his friend in his arms, her flowery scent filing his nose and his eyes taking a photograph of the way her soft, blue hair fell over her shoulder.

_Could it really be, that I stayed up practically all night, and got less than three hours of sleep... just because I was with Dawn? But if that is the reason, why would it happen tonight, but not a single night out of the whole time I was traveling with Dawn?_

A look of realization mixed with shock came to Ash's face, his eyes went wide but he made sure that his jaw didn't drop.

_It could be...no...well maybe... I feel so different when I'm with Dawn, and out of all the girls, she was the only one I really missed while in Unova... It feels so natural hugging her, and putting my arm around her...I felt so happy while traveling through Sinnoh with her, we had arguments every now and then, but when I got to Unova, there were times I was just miserable... Dawn would always support me, and I would support her, I spent the least amount of time with Dawn out of all the girls, but I grew closer to her than I ever was with Misty or May... definitely closer than Iris, despite spending four years there. There is just something special about Dawn, something I'm drawn to...her amazing blue eyes, incredibly soft hair, her supportive and determined spirit... I'll admit that I **l**like Dawn... but is it possible that I care about Dawn...even more than that?_ He looked down at Dawn again, he saw her blue eyes, as she looked into his that were black/brown, Ash didn't really care too much for his eye color, but he was captured by Dawn's.

_They are different than May's, Dawn's eyes are like the stone she shares her name with, only very blue, and even prettier...it isn't the color that captures me, it is what is in her eyes... _Ash smiled, still looking down at Dawn, before turning to the horizon.

_Yes... there is not a doubt in my mind anymore, I finally figured it out... Heh, looking back, my friends really were right, I was pretty dense, I'm sure I still am, but at least I realize my feelings on this after so long... But how do I know if Dawn feels the same way about me?_

Ash was brought from his thoughts as he heard Dawn gasp and run over to the railing.

"Look Ash! The Sun is rising!" Dawn exclaimed as Ash finally walked up next to her, leaning on the railing.

The two of them watched as brilliant reds, oranges and yellows slowly lit up the sky and set the shining blue ocean ablaze with color.

"Wow, it's so pretty! It is like the ocean is on fire!" Dawn exclaimed, awed by the beautiful sunrise.

"Yeah, your right!" Ash said, agreeing with Dawn, as the Sun started to peek up from behind the horizon.

The sun was a glowing, red sliver on the horizon, lighting the nearby sky with an orange hue, spreading across the sky before fading to a gold. The ocean was sparkling and it looked like the water was replaced with gold.

"Hey Dawn, what are you doing once we reach Kanto?" Ash asked, drawing Dawn's attention from the sunrise.

"Oh well I was planning on competing in contests there." Dawn responded

"Do you know where you are going to start?"

"Well... not really, I guess I thought I would make it up as I would go..." Dawn said.

Ash thought for a few seconds before speaking.  
>"Hey I have an idea! How about you come with me to Pallet Town? You can stay at my house until you get a plan put together!" Ash suggested.<p>

"Really! Are you sure Ash? I mean, wouldn't your mother think it kinda strange that you are bringing another person, nonetheless a girl that she doesn't know, to the house, after you have been gone for four years?" Dawn asked, excited, but also wanting to make sure she wouldn't be burdening Ash.

"Yeah! I'm sure my mom wouldn't have a problem with that, she's a great person and I'm sure she will welcome you. You could also pay a visit to Prof. Oak at his lab, I could introduce you to all my pokemon and my friend Tracy also!" Ash was starting to get really excited, both from getting to introduce everyone to Dawn, and because he would get to see all his pokemon and his friend Tracy again.

"Prof. Oak! Really! I am so there! Ohmygosh, I get to see the poetry prof. In his lab!" Dawn squealed.

Ash just watched her and laughed, glad that Dawn wasn't depressed anymore, he looked back out at the sunrise, the sun was about a quarter of the way above horizon and was a big orange quarter circle just hovering above the horizon now. Dawn calmed down and the two of them continued to watch as the Sun continued to rise up into the sky.

After about five minutes of silence Ash said "Hey Dawn, what do you think of when you hear light?"

Dawn turned to him, confused by his random question, Ash was still staring out at the sunrise.

"What do you mean Ash?"

"You know, like the word "light", what do you think of when you hear it?"

"I guess I would say a lightbulb would be the first thing that comes to mind for me." Dawn said, curious as to why Ash would ask such a random question.

"A lightbulb huh? Well when I hear the word "light" I think of something like this sunrise here..." Ash pointed at the beautiful scene before the two teens. The sun was about halfway now, casting golden light everywhere.

"A sunrise?" Dawn asked, surprised by Ash's response. She thought he would say something like Pikachu's thunderbolt or something else pokemon related.

"...Yeah, or something like that. It is beautiful, brilliant and full of life and colors. Whenever I see it, I stop and watch as it spreads light and warmth over the Earth," Ash said.

The sunrise was almost over, but Ash continued to watch it as the sky turned from golden to light blue.

Dawn wasn't sure what to make of what Ash just said. _That was beautiful, but so... not Ash... maybe... _Dawn had a confused look on her face as she tried to figure out why Ash said what he did.

Ash looked at Dawn, he could easily see that she didn't get what he just said. She had a confused look on her face and she held right index finger at the corner of her mouth, indicating she was thinking. Ash just laughed, bringing Dawn out of her thoughts.

"What's so funny Ash?" Dawn asked, still confused.

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all Dawn," he said smirking.

"What is it Ash?" Dawn said, knowing Ash knew something she wasn't getting which made her frustrated.

"Really Dawn, it's nothing!" Ash said with a big grin on his face.

Dawn realized that Ash wasn't going to tell her, so she puffed her cheeks out, pouting.

_Hahaha, she looks so cute and funny at the same time._ Ash thought to himself looking at the blunette with her cheeks puffed out. Ash copied her, but exaggerated how much Dawn had her cheeks puffed, the two of them just looked at each other before bursting into laughter. Still laughing, Ash pulled Dawn into a friendly hug, loving the feel of her arms around him.

_Maybe someday I'll tell you what I meant Dawn..._

For the past four years, even though he had fun in Unova, Ash felt like he was stumbling around in the dark, unsure what he was doing, and where he was felt like he lost sight of his path, but now, the sun has finally begun to rise.  
><em>After stumbling around in the dark, it is so much more clear.<em> _After four long years,_ _I can see what I missed before, and I don't plan on missing it again..__._

Ash squeezed Dawn gently and laid his cheek on her soft hair, Dawn squeezed him back and laid her head on his chest, the two looked out as on the horizon, the skyline of Vermillion City came into view.

**.:!`fin`!:.**

**A/N: The A/N was like 1000 words long, so that is the next chapter. Sorry no epilogue, but please review, and if you reviewed before this chapter, you are included in my list of thanks! Don't forget to review the chapter and the story! I use every review to help me grow as a writer! Happy Reading!**

**-Javanos**


	6. Credits chapter 5 ending Author's Note

Well that's it everyone, this is the end of my (oneshot-turned-multi-chapter) story, "Relighting the Path". It is bittersweet reaching the end. I am so happy that I finally finished it, but at the same time it was a lot of fun making this. It was completely unexpected and I feel like I've learned a few things while making this. Relighting the Path is indeed only my second fan fiction, and leaps and bounds better than my first, at least I feel so.

I know some of you are thinking "Are Ash and Dawn a couple by the end?" or a multitude of other questions. For all I know, you could be thinking about blue cheese and how pretty it is! But so to clear the ending up, no Ash and Dawn are not a couple in the end of Relighting the Path. yes they are holding and hugging each other, but they are not a couple. (don't try logic, just accept lol)

Now some of you will be thinking about how can I make a pearlshipping fic if Ash and Dawn aren't a couple! Well, the answer to that will be found sometime in the future, uploaded and at the top of a list. *hint, hint* *cough* sequel*cough* What? I said something about a sequel? Are you sure? I dunno, that is going to take a lot of planning, and will probably be longer than Relighting the Path. But I guess I could think about it.

Now next, "Does Ash really like sunrises?"... I'll see what you guys answer in the reviews!

Since this is at the end. I'm really thankful to all my readers and especially all my reviewers! My original plan for this was a little 600-1000 word oneshot, but thanks to you guys, it has turned into a 15k+ word multi-chapter story! I never actually thought I would be someone who would type one of these kind of stories, so thank you all!

But I have a few people I would like to thank individually (despite the fact that I have the exact same thing here and on the 5th chapter, I'm just that thankful to you guys):

**StaraptorFan:** _Thank you so much! You inspired me to keep writing! You were my first reviewer ever on my first fan fic and you said it was great, even though I thought it was kinda bad. Thanks so much for your reviews and compliments! You're Awesome!_

**Itssupereffective**: _You were my first reviewer on Relighting the Path, since then, we have had some great conversation, and you encouraged me with your reviews and your words. You inspired me to improve my writing, and to strive for originality! I'm honored that you chose my fic to be the first pearlshipping fic that you have read in a while!_

**PokemonFreak90**: _After your first review, I went back and read the entire first and second chapter over for errors lol. I'm sure I still missed some, but you reminded me that I should try my best to make sure there are as few errors as I can find! I managed to get some ideas for chapters from you and I also developed my thoughts on Ash and Dawn's relationship because of you. Thanks for it all!_

**PikachuPlanet, videogamebookworm10, pkmaster777, ChibiMoonCakes, Crazywolf1991 and Northern Ranger**: _Thanks so much to ALL of you! This would not have been completed without your reviews! (Or well it wouldn't have been completed in the quality that it is.) While I was trying to figure out the last chapter, I went back and read all your reviews. The reviews you guys gave me, reminded me that no matter how much I wanted to get it done, I needed to make a quality chapter because there are people out there that are expecting such a chapter. Thank you for all your input and encouraging words!_

Well that is pretty much it, I was almost too scared to post it, worried that I wasn't conveying the emotions well enough, but I knew you guys were counting on me. When I say that it was you guys who made this story what it is, I mean it. It would have ended at chapter 3 and be like 12k words less if it weren't for you guys! Thank you all for reading! And don't forget to review this chapter and what you thought of the story! If you have any questions you can add them to your review, or you can always PM me!

**Happy Reading!  
><strong>**-Javanos**

P.S: What? that random voice that coughs things is saying that he wants an adventure through Kanto?... _And _Johto! Hmm, that will require a _LOT_ of planning. (Aka: If I do decide to follow this random voice, it would be at least a few months before I could, with confidence, start typing it, but there may be other things I write in the time between.)


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